Timing of Applications

The timing of your application is critical to your opportunities as a candidate. In a typical application cycle, you want to be early. For Medical Schools, early is considered having your application processed by the end of June or early July which means that it should be submitted within a week or so of the cycle opening. There ends up being a 4-to-6-week backlog of applications during the verification process. Verification – the process of checking application for accuracy and completeness. May include coursework, test scores, personal information, etc.

The longer a student waits to apply, the lower their chances will be. The graph to the left shows how the acceptance rate declines over time for when their application was processed.

Dental and Physician Assistant students see a similar drop in acceptance rates as time passes. For Dental students, we suggest being submitted by late June. For PA students, the ideal time to submit is May or June with the cycle opening in April.

Gap/Glide Year Data

Medical Track

The entering medical class continues to get older. The percentage of respondents to the AAMC MSQ aged 23 to 25 increased to 54.0% in 2022 (up from 52.7% in 2021 and 51.9% in 2020), and respondents aged 20 to 22 upon matriculation dropped from 30.3% in 2021 to 28.9% in 2022.

Similarly, over two-thirds (71.1%) of new matriculants reported that they had taken at least one gap year (up from 66.3% in 2020 and 68.5% in 2021). (Source: 2022 AAMC Matriculating Student Questionnaire)

What do students do during a Gap Year? According to the AAMC MSQ students opted to:

1. Worked at another career (51.1%) (clinical suggested)
2. Worked in a research position (46.8%)
3. Worked to improve finances (40.2%)
4. Pursued graduate studies (22.1%)
5. Volunteered in a clinical/non-clinical setting

Dental Track

Dental students tend to be ready earlier to apply to their professional programs, although there are benefits to taking a gap/glide year.

# Gap Years	% Total Applicants	Acceptance rate
0	50%	69%
1	21%	55%
2	15%	63%
3	10%	60%
4	4%	100%

Physician Assistant Track

Due to the Patient Care Hour requirements for many Physician Assistant programs, many PA Track students opt to take a gap year. Nearly 80% of PA Track students take at least one gap year. The average number of gap years a PA student takes is 2, meaning they apply one year after graduation.

# Gap Years	% Total Applicants	Acceptance rate
0	23%	42%
1	28%	41%
2	30%	38%
3	12%	54%
4	6%	38%

MCAT and GPA

A strong entrance exam score will open the door to programs, but a perfect score or GPA is not necessary.

The table below shows different GPA bands and MCAT bands, as well as the total applicants and acceptance rates for students over the span of three cycles (2021, 2022, and 2023). This data is inclusive of both MD and DO programs (separate from the AAMC chart that only includes MD).

The table below shows the percentile of MCAT total scores for accepted candidates to medical school over the span of three cycles (2021, 2022, 2023).

Accepted Candidates	MCAT Score
10^th Percentile	501
25^th Percentile	506
50^th Percentile	511
75^th Percentile	516
90^th Percentile	520